Destined to Battle
by RSlashPokemonFanfiction
Summary: The Galar region is in a dance with ruin. Resources are steadily running dry. Social networking and a mysterious threat have revealed just how low the survival rate for trainers is. Minor and major gyms have created a rift in the governing powers of the region. Point is, things aren't looking good. Not for me. Not for Hop. Not for anyone. This is my journey.


"Aldrick, wake up!" I must be dreaming about Hop waking me up. Probably wants to challenge me to the 'battle of a lifetime' again.

"Aldrick! Open the door!" I hear again. That sounds a little too realistic. Maybe he needs something else? Another long series of knocks breaks me out of my slumber completely. I brush away long black locks from my eyes and make my way over to the door, not bothering to put on a shirt or change out of the sleeping shorts I wear. Fall is coming, and soon after that, winter. I'm gonna miss being able to sleep shirtless.

"What?" I say, opening the door. Hop is standing there, holding a small butter knife in one hand and the other primed to knock on the door again. "Why do you have a butter knife?"

"Because me bestest mate didn't think that the damn champion arriving in Wedgehurst was worth waking up on time over." He explained, tossing the butter knife in the air and catching it in a proper grip. "And I thought I'd use this to break his door down."

When he finished he walked in. I took in the denim jacket lined with fur, the black and purple track pants with the matching shoes. The duffel bag. He really pulled out his favorite outfit for this.

"I know Leon is gonna be here today, but he isn't getting here until the eveni-" I say, until I realize what time it actually was. I had taken a nap(there wasn't much to do in Postwick for a recent graduate) as a way to kill time before Leon did get here. When I went under it was midday, now it was 5 PM and I quickly felt the adrenaline rush of potentially being late push me into activity.

"What time is he gonna be here exactly?" I say, looking around the room for my towel so I can shower.

"Yesterday he said around 6, but he's always getting lost and he has to fly from Wyndon so he might be late, now that I think about it." Hop says, plopping down on my bed and taking a look around my room. There were books scattered around the room, all over my bed, small table, desk, floor and practically falling off the shelf next to my door. Books are my only real hobby and I… indulge. "You live like a slob, mate."

"Suck on a Metapod, will ya?" I say, grabbing the towel. "Now get out, I'm gonna shower and change. I'll meet you down there." I tell him.

"Fine, fine." He says, getting up and leaving the room. "I guess I'll just give this Pokemon to someone else-"

"What pokemon?" I say, my attention going to his words immediately. Hop smiles slyly, knowing he's got my focus now.

Being a trainer was my only 'passion'. I say passion like that mostly because I don't really feel particularly strongly about it, it's just my only option now that I've finished school. I've been living free under my mom's roof for long enough, and after getting 3 badges non-endorsed trainers receive a monthly stipend that's big enough to pay for and feed myself in a small apartment in Wedgehurst or Motostoke. That's good enough for me. Issue is, Mom does not have enough money to just buy a pokeball and let me fend for myself in the wild while training to get those three badges. It's only been 3 months since I've graduated, and the boredom has really set in now that I've spent all of September doing basically nothing. Hop, he wants to follow in his brother's footsteps. Become the next champion.

I can't really imagine it, but it's something I hope to see someday.

"Well, my brother said he travelled to Sinnoh for work, and he has a Gible and Gligar for us." Hop explains. "I'm gonna ask him to endorse us, then we can take the gym challenge seriously, right?" Hop asks. I nod and turn to go take my shower, a new fire lighting in the pit of my stomach. Small, but moving. I want this. Soon enough I'm dressed and ready to head out, at this rate we'll be at Wedgehurst with time to spare. As I'm heading out the door, Mom calls out my name. I sigh, poking my head back in and preparing to memorize the instruction in this errand.

"Make sure you lock up the back gate tight before you leave, Bob has been trying to get out through there recently. I caught him using Roll-Out on the gate this morning." She says. I nod and make my way out the door, mind set on this new chapter in my life.

**6:40 PM, Day 0, Wedgehurst**

The train ride to Wedgehurst took its regular hour, leaving us with an ample amount of time to waste before we met up with Leon at the station. We decided on the Berry Merry Cafe, a berry cafe 2 minutes away and across the road from the Pokemon Center in case Leon needed to stop there for some reason. Hop wasn't exactly on board when I mentioned the former benefit but flew into the idea completely when I presented the latter.

Hop ordered us two Oran and Sitrus blend smoothies and sat them down before sitting down across from me himself.

"Thanks." I say. Hop knows I have no money, but never mentions it. I still make it a point to thank him, though. I won't be able to live off of scraps from him forever, and I know he'll eventually get tired of it too, far slower than I am, admittedly, but tired all the same.

"Don't worry about it, mate." He said, waving his hand and staring out of the window to the Pokemon Center. "What do you think our Pokemon will be like?" Hop asks. I consider it carefully. Gligar are known to be playful.

"I think mine is gonna be a bit childish." I say. "Considering it's supposed to grow with us."

"Except we aren't childish, and I think it's utter rubbish to think so." He says, folding his arms indignantly. I stare at him and suck at the straw for my smoothie, trying not to laugh at just how childish he looks.

We hear the flapping of wings coming from the North. Hop stares at me as he listens to the rhythmic flapping.

"It's Marcus!" He said excitedly, dropping a few pounds on the table and running out of the door. I sipped in the last bit of my smoothie and ran after him, intent on seeing Marcus fly in with Leon atop his back.

And see him we did, flying in from the frigid Northern region where Wyndon was located. I watched as Marcus, Leon's enormous Charizard, made a few grand flaps as he aimed to hover above the Pokemon Center next door. So much for meeting us at the station.

I caught up to Hop, who eagerly awaited for Marcus to begin his slow and steady descent on the Pokemon Center's rooftop, careful not to damage in any way. I guess I could respect that, except for the fact that Hop looked like he was ready to have a fit over seeing his older brother. When he finally landed, Leon did a damn flip and twirl on his way down, landing facing away from us, showing us the promotional logos on his trademark cape around the wild but definitely recently trimmed night colored hair, the same shade as Hop's. Above him, Marcus roared fire into the air, giving us a light show before Leon slowly raised a right hand wielding a simple Mk. I pokeball. The ballcap with the stylings of a crown on it felt very manipulative to me, but I paid it no mind. It was his job, he was the face of our nation, after all.

"Leon!" Hop said, running up to him the moment he returned Marcus and stayed in the pose of him returning his pokemon. Yeah, definitely manipulative.

"Hey, bud." The Champion said, taking his little brother into his arms for a warm hug. Hop embraced him with equal warmth before Leon pushed him away while holding tight to his shoulders. His hands moved to Hop's face, rubbing the sides of his head affectionately.

"Gah, stop!" Hop said, batting Leon's hands away. Leon gave an amused smile when Hop went on to say "I'm not a kid anymore!". And he was right. Well, he was wrong too, it's just… We're in that transitionary period, right? Still kids but learning realities of the world until we can function on our own?

"Do you have our Pokemon?" Hop asks. At this, Leon frowns.

"You haven't seen the news?" He asks? Without further prompting, he reaches into his bag and grabs his dex, opening the web browser and going to the bookmarked National Pokemon News Company website, revealing the giant NPNC white and red pokeball stylized logo before he scrolled down to the first story. It was labeled "55% of all pokemon gone?" When he tapped the video, two anchors,a man and a woman were sadly retelling the events of the story.

"**Well, early this morning, many of the world's pokemon disappeared. Sarah, what was that number the Unovan scientists threw out?" The man asked the woman next to him.**

"**55%, Thomas. 55% of all known species of pokemon are just gone, mostly from their pokeballs but people around the world are claiming they saw or in some cases, felt their pokemon disappear. From what we've been told, casualties from people riding atop a Skarmory for example are coming in at the rate of a few reports every few minutes. We're living in scary times, ladies and gentlemen. Although, there was one region that has been affected far less than any other: the Galarian Commonwealth.**

**Reports from the Galar region are few and far between, and all of the 'victims' were pokemon that could not naturally be found within the Galar region. We here in the Galar region send our deepest condolences to all those who lost family or their Pokemon, two things which are often one in the same."**

In the background behind them were videos of people panicking in the largest intersection in Jubilife City in the Sinnoh Region. There were busted and empty pokeballs all along the street and sidewalk, people were crying and anxiously searching for their lost friends and partners. That's when I had to look away.

"Unfortunately, your Pokemon were amongst the species that disappeared." He said to the both of us, sighing and placing one hand on my shoulder and one on Hop's. "I'm sorry."

"Does anyone know what happened?" I asked. He shook his head, and I looked down. Whatever happened, it's really, really fucked. I wonder what's gonna happen now that the Pokemon are gone? The pie chart on the screen was displaying a 'rough distribution of Pokémon species to the regions' now. Apparently, in order of densest population to least dense population. Galar, Unova, Kanto, Sinnoh, Hoenn, Johto, Kalos, Alola.

They move on to a different topic, about the impact on all of the nations' industry work, their military and even some of their hospitals now being horribly understaffed. I draw in a shaky breath and wonder just how fucked we Galarians are. There's going to be a hell of a lot of resentment, and if the powers that be here fuck up on an international level, we could be talking a war against two or three countries, at least.

"Fortunately, I do have alternatives for you. Meet Scorbunny and Grookey." Leon said, revealing two pokeballs hidden somewhere in his cape that opened simultaneously in his hand. The man was a damn magician.

The Scorbunny I recognized immediately. So, so many books on pokemon anatomy and mythology. The burning feet on the Wedgehurst pavement were also an instant indicator. Without warning, the thing hopped on my head, landing its not burning but definitely too warm feet on my shoulders. It roars "Bunny!" triumphantly, as if he's just climbed a mountain. Hm. How quaint.

I pick him up from my head and shoulders, turning him around and letting- checking aaand- him face me directly. He chirped once more, but I gave no reaction. When he chirped again and I remained unaffected, his eyes somehow looked more angry than playful for a moment, then he slapped the bottom of his foot on my forearm, singing it quite a bit and leaving a small almost-burned spot.

"There's a little fire in you, huh? I'll call you Sebron, Demon of Wedgehurst!" I announce. He chirps happily this time, flailing a little bit. I put him down and he begins running circles around me excitedly.

"Arceus, mate, that's a bit dark for a cute thing like that." He says.

"You forget that Scorbunny packs number in the dozens all led by a Raboot and Cinderace who will use captured humans as target practice for Pyro Balls. By the time they're found, they're usually unidentifiable because of the combination of hard concussive force along with instant third degree burns basically destroying the tissue and melting the teeth enough to make them far from their original formation, not to mention them eating much of the meatier parts of the human before abandoning their body in a field somewhere." I retort. Hop blanchs, and I smile, taking Sebron's pokeball from Leon and thumbing the scanner over the back attachment mechanism where the fingerprint scanner was. The pokeball rejected me and did not return Sebron, so I held it up to Leon.

"Confirm secession to Aldrick Averworth." Leon said. The pokeball made the sealing sound it often did with a successfully caught pokemon, so I thumbed the back once more and returned Sebron successfully this time. He was waving goodbye before he returned, and I have to admit, he is cute. Right now at least.

"Change signature scan." I say into the pokeball. The pokeball doesn't react visibly or audibly, being the Mk. 1 and all, but I know it's ready to receive the first instance of the new signature. This time I pass over the spot of my upper palm right below my finger where I would be throwing my pokeballs from. The pokeball made the sealing sound, so I did it again, and the sealing sound replied once more. Received and confirmed. I test it one more time, releasing a confused Sebron.

"Don't worry, buddy, just testing the ball. Here, return." I say, and the pokeball opens and Sebron is returned once more.

"Pokeball connoisseur are we?" Leon says. I don't know much about them beyond the hard facts when they're mentioned in books. They are cool concepts and very varied in design, though. It's interesting I guess.

"Nah, just read up about them a bit." I say, attempting to remain casual in how I retained the knowledge. From past experiences, people don't really get it when you say the people you talked to _were_ the books, all the characters and places I've seen in my head. I get along pretty well with people most of the time, so I think it's fine.

"I'll take the Grookey, and I'll name you… Hm… Russel! You'll be Russel Hops!" Hop said. I suirk an eyebrow. "C'mon, like the Rillabooms, the ones that did Feel Good Inc." He explained, crouching down and fondling the Grookey's ear affectionately. The small ape began to rhythmically tap its stick on the ground, leaning into Hop's touch. "Aww, he likes me." He says, high fiving Russel and letting him scamper up his body until he's resting on his head like Sebron was on mine. I wonder if that's like, their thing. Well, baby Pokemon _do _often ride atop their parents for transportation and better vantage point with which to discover new things. Pokemon learn, a lot like we do when they're young, they just mature a lot faster. It takes us years and years to be what society considers an adult, whereas some bug types become adults within months. The range is considerable too, since a lot of the most powerful dragon-types take something closer to half of what it takes for a human to grow to an adult.

"You guys will be great trainers. Think about taking on the first few gyms and seeing if someone could-" Leon began, but Hop quickly interrupted him.

"You could." He said, beaming brightly at his older brother. Leon's smile faded and he considered us with a focused expression for a moment before deciding.

"Nah." He said, turning and walking away. I blinked, looking to Hop, who looked dreadfully back at me. Then, he ran off after his brother. I jogged to catch up to them, hearing half of Hop's pleas.

"But there's no one else-" Hop continued, but Leon quickly interrupted him. The crowd that surrounded us followed, but kept their distance. It was common knowledge that Leon would absolutely refuse to speak to you if you were too close while looking to ask him questions. Marcus is especially infamous for being less than fond of anyone surrounding him, as many incidents with burned cameras, notebooks and in some cases, hands have been reported since his rise to fame.

"Not possible right now, little brother. Between the 'Cut' as the people have been calling it, the protests and Rose and his damn Wishing Stars, it's been a lot and I'm proper miffed, yeah?" Leon said before covering his mouth and groaning. "Ah, you had me slip there, Hop. Listen, it's just not the right move. You don't want to be a trainer endorsed by me. Honestly, if I were your age looking at how things are going on now, I wouldn't want to be a trainer at all. They're trying to kill the trade here and I won't let em, but I can't do it if I have to babysit the two of you while you go around the country doing Arceus knows what with my name."

By the time Leon finishes, Hop is frowning. Russel is looking downtrodden on his head, too. Together, they're a pair of sympathy garnering monkeys who are honestly getting to me too, damnit.

"Leon, I know you're worried we'll be worth less than the trouble we might cause-" I say, but he holds a finger up to interrupt me.

"_Will_ cause." He corrects.

"Whatever, point is, we get it. How about we beat Kabu in 3 months without incident and then you can decide one more time on whether or not it's worth endorsing us?" I offered. Leon smiled immediately, rubbing his chin thoughtfully.

"Puts you through battling and the hardships of being a trainer and keeps me from looking like an idiot. I like it, Aldrick." He says. "It's a deal. Here, give me a second." Leon says, reaching back into wherever he hides his things in that damn cape to pull out another Pokeball, this one with yellow finger grooves over a black top.. "Chester, out with ya."

Out of the Pokeball, a Mk. III or Ultraball if I'm remembering correctly, came a human sized bipedal Pokemon with what looked like a black button up jacket with a huge, red pulsing thing on its belly. It had a black tophat with black wings on it and a cane of ice. It tapped the cane on the ground twice, standing at attention and saluting Leon with its free hand.

"Rime!" Chester said, addressing his master.

My eyes widened and I felt my heart quicken. Memories of sleepless nights and shaking in fear began to flood my mind. Immediately I felt the fear quell into a gentle uneasiness that only grew like a fire when I heard a voice in my head.

_Ease up, boy, I'm not gonna hurt ya._

I shiver, trying to break my gaze from the Mr. Rime but unable to. That red orb on its belly? It's a highly compressed and polished human brain. That's where the horror comes from, really. Mr. Rime isn't exactly a rare Pokemon but is actually incredibly hard to evolve from Mr. Mime and only known to happen in Galar. The only publicly recorded incidents of evolution have all involved the murder of a human, despite Mr. Rime being decently common in the wild.

Typically, Mr. Mime who feel they have been wronged by their partners, Pokemon or otherwise, will don darker colors, where they will not speak to their partner until they feel they have been sufficiently repaid for the wrongdoing. Sometimes, this means murdering their partner, taking their brain and integrating it into their own bodies in order to understand why they wronged the Mr. Mime when the Mr. Mime doesn't perceive the wrongdoing it did to deserve it. Sometimes, the integration happens before a murder, through a psychic connection shared willingly between the partner and their Mr. Mime. One account has an individual who claims that regardless of the method, the partner's body will die and their mind will live on conjoined to the Mr. Mime's. After that, no one knows how exactly they become Mr. Rime, but a Mr. Mime in place of a Mr. Mime is never a good sign.

"Chester tells me you have some bad uh… nightmares about Mr. Rime. It's okay, he's really nice." Leon says, putting a hand on my shoulder that I'm sure is supposed to be reassuring. It's not. "Chester, go get those bags from Wyndon for the boys, will ya?" Leon asks.

The Mr. Rime taps its cane and I could faintly hear a 'understood' in my mind before the thing disappears. Immediately I feel a breath leave my mouth before the Mr. Rime's sudden reappearance makes me yelp. Hop laughs and I'm immediately embarrassed. The Mr. Rime seems to be laughing too, covering its mouth with a hand closed around two backpacks that he hands to Leon. Leon checks the bags and nods.

"In each of these are 20 Mk.1's, 10 Potions, 2 Panaceas and a Pokedex. It's a good starting pack, definitely more than I had for myself. Head on back to Postwick, tell Mom and Dad and your Mom," Leon said, looking pointedly at me after pointing at Hop. "Let em know you're gonna challenge those first few gyms. Chester." Leon says, looking to the Mr. Rime. The Mr. Rime simply taps its cane on the floor once more, and suddenly we're outside of Hop's house back in Postwick.

"I'll talk to Mom and Dad and let them know I'm going. I'll meet you back here!" Hop says, running inwards and putting the backpack fully on his back. Leon sighs and I look up to him. There's an easy smile on his face.

"Go ahead and tell you're Mother. I have a meeting with Chairman Rose, and I'm pretty sure he's been looking for me since I left Wyndon." He says. The Mr. Rime, who I'm not entirely comfortable with calling Chester, taps its cane on the ground one last time and Leon disappears. I sigh in relief, glad that the monster is gone.

Without a second thought, I make my way up the hill for the 10 minute walk from Hop's house back to mine. During the walk, I think about what my journey would be like. Literally all I have to do is beat Kabu and then I can be done and spend the rest of my time trying to figure out exactly what to do.

Before I know it, I'm already at home. Weird thing, though. The fence to the Slumbering Weld is broken.

Immediately my heart falls to my stomach. Mom is gonna kill me.

The Slumbering Weald isn't exactly a good place to visit. The Pokemon are strong but they never leave the area, festering and growing stronger together in the small forest where legend says that two heroes stopped the Darkest Day. Professor Magnolia always warned me against going in there whenever she would pass by to study it and collect Wishing Stars. Mom always kept the fence locked tight and wouldn't let me go out and play unattended until I was old enough to understand what exactly was going on in there.

More than anything, I'm hoping a Grimmsnarl doesn't see me while I'm trying to get this damn Wooloo back. Bob had been headbutting that fence for years, and it finally gave in. That stupid old ball of wool was trying to get me killed too, either in here or by Mom.

As I trek farther inside I start to see tall grass and thicker trees in the path. There are Impidimp running about the grass, so I duck low and get behind a tree. My heart beats within my chest while I peer about for Bob. He's nowhere to be seen, but I could hear a faint "wooo" from deeper inside the Weld. I take a deep breath and let out Sebron.

"Scor!" He says, but I quiet him with a shush and a finger over my lips. He stares at me inquisitively, and I realize that he's probably a newborn and very, very inept at battling. Fuck me. "How good are you at battling?" I say. Sebron stares back, cocking its head the other way cutely. God this thing was gonna die and so am I. "Uh… Sebron, Ember!"

When the words leave my mouth, Sebron shoots spittles of fire that begin burning away a tree from the ground up a short distance away.

"Fuck!" I yell out, grabbing Sebron and running away from it and towards the tall grass and thick trees. The Impidimp see us and I'm tempted to freeze to try and trek slowly around them, but when they start screeching I scream and start running as fast as I can. Under my arm, Sebron is flailing wildly, trying to break free. He hits the ground running and is soon outspeeding me as we wander deeper into the Weald. Suddenly, the Impidimp screeching stops. I stop and Sebron stops a few dozen feet ahead of me.

"Bunny!" He yells, waving at me before running ahead into a clearing shining with the light of the evening sun.

"Wait!" I cry back, running after him. The light of the sun setting in the horizon blinds me initially but when I get in I see it. There's an archway and a river behind it, the Archway is breaking down and sitting right in front of it was something that looked like a wide tombstone and a small hole in the stone. As I walk closer, Sebron runs circles around me before hopping on my shoulder, startling me slightly but not breaking me out of my focus. There's also what looks like a broken, rusted sword and shield near the tombstone, but I ignore them to read the stone itself.

"Two heroes… Darkest day." I read out. Everything else is either covered in moss or outright illegible. I've never been this far into the Weald, only having visited the outskirts to see the Impidimp with Hop when we were younger. They saw us and we had to run out and back to my house before they could catch up to us. Mom gave us a proper tongue lashing that day.

"I wouldn't get too close, if I were you. Don't you see the fog starting to set in? You might get lost." I hear from behind me. Immediately I whip around and see a man with a gray suit on. He had a comb over with a long lock of hair falling over the left side of his face, while the sides of his hair were cut low and revealed graying roots. He's old, and I recognize him. He seems important. "Is this what you were looking for?" He says, motioning behind him to reveal Bob, who only said "Loo!"

When he saw me, he bounded forth before rolling like a stone down a hill. He stopped abruptly before me, caressing my hand before greeting Sebron. Sebron hopped happily in place, leaving flaming footprints on the now rapidly disappearing ground. The fog was low, and if this guy was speaking the truth, it'd only grow larger until I am not able to see anything.

"Who are you?" I ask. He stares at me with half-lidded eyes before they widen. He doesn't say anything, only bringing out a Pokeball.

"You don't even know, do you?" He says, letting the Pokeball open and release what looks like a Aegislash.

"What do you mean?" I ask. He doesn't answer my question, instead he says something that makes me freeze in place far better than any Grimmsnarl could.

"Archimedes, eat the Wooloo." He commands.

"What?!" I say, standing between Bob and the Aegislash. Without any other warning, the Aegislash rushes forward through the air, sword no longer bound by the shield. When it gets close, Sebron jumps in front of me and fires an ember, but Archimedes disappears in a black mist before me.

Then I hear it. The squelch of steel piercing flesh and the pained cry of an injured Wooloo. I turn and see in horror as the light in Bob's eyes fades as the blade that impaled him pulses, drawing life energy. The only sustenance for ghost-types. But why? Tears sting my eyes as I whip back to the man, who is smiling in spite of the horror I'm witnessing.

"Sebron, use Ember!" I say, getting out of his way so he can get a clear shot at the Aegislash, but it dodges away from the move, exiting Bob. I notice that Bob's wound doesn't even bleed, and he's lying still on the ground. My heartbeat quickens and suddenly my thoughts become a lot more simple. Stop him. Stop him.

"Wrap around and try to get close!" I say, turning back to the man. He was still just standing there, smiling. Stop him.

I run towards him, a fist cocked back to put his lights out. When a foot stops me about 3 feet away from my destination by finding its way into my stomach, I heave and drop to the floor, all of the air knocked out of me.

"You might now remember who I am right now, but I know who you are, Aldrick Averworth. I also know that your father is not around. I know your mother is home most of the time, with nothing but a couple of cute little Budew to protect her." He says, kneeling down and getting close to my face as he speaks. The long lock of hair floats in front of his crazed eyes, and the surety and calm that had taken me over when I first tried to attack him disappear to reveal a sea of fear and doubt. Behind me I hear Sebron yelping from taking another attack.

"Please, stop…" I pant, not wanting to lose Sebron too. The man smiles and looks up at the battle.

"Sure. On one condition: me being here and Archimedes eating the Wooloo- none of it happened. In fact, if anyone finds out I was here, I will personally make it my mission to end everyone you know and love. Sebron," He says, motioning with a wave. On the floating shield with various stab and slash wounds was Sebron, being laid to rest beside me. "Your mother. Hop. I don't care what happens to me, but I have a mission and you will not stop me."

When he finishes, he stands to his full height and begins walking away, Archimedes floating along behind him.

"Put him out so he won't follow us." The man commands once more. Without further warning, Archimedes is in my face, hypnotising me with the patterns on his shield before the world goes dark.


End file.
